This invention is in the field of toys, and more specifically those including stuffed animals and dolls. A variety of different types of stuffed animals and dolls are provided for children who, in many cases, will carry the toys during the day and place the toys in bed at night.
Some children have genetically transmitted night blindness providing not only inconvenience to the child, but also creating dangerous conditions. Night blindness prevents a person from having normal vision in a darkened room or in the outside in the evening. Further, even in a subdued lighted environment, a person will not adequately be able to see in order to conveniently and safely walk from location to location. Many persons suffering from night blindness carry a flashlight: however, children may be embarrassed to always carry a flashlight at night or may simply forget to carry the same. On the other hand as previously described, children will frequently carry a toy such as a stuffed animal or doll and thus by incorporating a light into the toy a child is provided with a convenient means to cope with night blindness.
I have designed a stuffed animal or doll with lighting means so as to not be noticeable when the lights are in an off condition. Such has been accomplished by incorporating the lights into the pupils of the eyes of the toy providing a normal toy appearance when the lights are off. A concealed switch connects the light to a battery source thereby allowing the child to conveniently turn the lights on when needed.
A major design consideration in incorporating lights into a toy is the requirement that the lights not be dislodged by the child allowing the child either to swallow the bulbs or perhaps allow the bulbs to break with subsequent injury to the child. Therefore, I have constructed a means for holding the bulbs to prevent the accidental removal of the bulbs while at the same time allowing the bulbs to be interiorly removed in the event the bulbs are inoperable. Further, many toys present on the market include pivoting eyes to simulate eyes which will open and close. I have, therefore, provided a particular structure allowing the incorporation of my invention into toys having pivoting eyes allowing my invention to be incorporated into existing toys as well as new toys.